ST Telemedia has incorporated a new company called Leap, created to make cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption easier, faster and more effective through an end-to-end IT services play.

The Singapore-based start-up has been in operation for a few months, housing 60 AI and cloud IT professionals and growing its operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, with ambitious regional expansion plans.

Adding to the start-up's cloud capability, ST Telemedia recently inherited the expertise from cloud computing consultancy, Cloud Comrade, through a majority acquisition, which enabled Leap to extend its business delivery capabilities, customer base and geographic reach.

“Being a Singapore company with Asia as our backyard, we understand the cultural, business and technical complexities of operating and setting up AI and cloud technologies in Asia,” said Ron Totton, CEO of LEAP.

The new start-up will offer a number of key AI-centric and cloud IT services across the Southeast Asian market, which leverage a combination of software and expertise as-a-service.

“We believe that technology can positively change the world and we want to be part of that change,” said Totton. “Our belief is that AI and cloud technology can help businesses and governments in Asia 'leapfrog' and become more effective, remove pain points for digital transformation and improve society.

"Leap understands that cloud enablement and digital transformation are forefront of companies and governments minds, but this is a challenging transformation with numerous pain points and execution issues. Leap aims to smooth that journey and increase internal and external success."

For AI to be successfully leveraged within an organisation, the start-up believes that it is not a matter of simply installing software, but that to be effective, it needs to be deeply linked to the organisation’s goals.

“We started on robust foundations with a strong and committed shareholder - ST Telemedia, a high performance and passionate team, and a focus on working with great and innovative customers and partners,” said Totton.

“We will continue to Leap through organic growth and M&A investments to expand geographic reach and capabilities, all with the focus of increasing customer effectiveness."

Leap has seen steady growth since it began operations in 2018, acquiring customers across Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

The firm’s most recent success has been the deployment of its cyber security solution, powered by their partner Armor, across the whole of Singapore-based media conglomerate Mediacorp’s digital group.

Furthermore, as an ST Telemedia backed start-up, Leap aims to drew on the already established regional network and expertise of its parent company, with a positive track record in several key sectors including communications and media, data centres and infrastructure technology.

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